tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87171328745706621082024-02-08T06:46:49.787+05:30BLoG ONEBlog of Prof. Niyaz Ahmed - Molecular epidemiologist, VeterinarianNiyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-24094883564175157212013-03-20T22:53:00.001+05:302013-03-20T22:53:32.632+05:30Gut microbiota, brain functions and the susurrations of a new discipline, ‘Gastro-biological psychiatry’<p></p><h2><span style="font-size:small;font-weight:normal">This week Canadian physician Alison C. Bested and her colleagues Alan C. Logan and Eva M. Selhub have published a series of review papers (1, 2, 3) in </span><i style="font-size:small;font-weight:normal"><a href="http://gutpathogens.com">Gut Pathogens</a></i><span style="font-size:small;font-weight:normal"> related to the gut microbiota and mental health. Much has been written lately concerning the gut microbiota-brain connection (mediated by CNS, immune, nutrient and other mechanisms) as a potential therapeutic pathway which might be exploited by probiotics, antibiotics and pharmacobiotics. As Bested and colleagues highlight, a decade ago the notion that orally administered microbes could influence depression, anxiety or behavioral disorders was not something that would be taken seriously by more than a minority in the scientific community. With detailed historical analysis, they argue that such notions were too closely aligned with "autointoxication", or the modern interpretation of the term.</span></h2> <p></p><p>Time allows for the advancement of scientific technique and sometimes forces us to re-evaluate the past. In particular, the past can provide signposts to the future investigative pathways. Through the 3-part series the authors illustrate how contemporary investigations are providing some small degrees of validation to researchers who had reported, nearly a century ago, on areas such as diet and intestinal permeability, or fecal microbiota transfer. However, this is not the ultimate destination of the series. They make a clear case that history, from the days of Metchnikoff and autointoxication, is in many ways repeating itself (e.g. citing recent animal studies on probiotics for longevity and urine analyses for uremic toxins linked to personality). With the historical aspects in place, the authors make a strong plea to international researchers from various disciplines to raise the stakes – move the research toward the clinic and consider the context of the real-world setting of the lifestyle and dietary habits, and how these might interact with gut microbes in those with depression and other mental health disorders. Bested and colleagues are not underestimating the critical value of pre-clinical work that has served to formally place the topic on the agenda, they are simply stating that it is time to funnel all this work and begin an exit strategy from phase I of translational medicine.</p> <p>The future of this area, gastro-biological psychiatry as they refer to it, is very bright. Logan recounts his experience during one of the breakout sessions at the <i>International Probiotics and Health: Biofunctional Perspectives</i> symposium in Montreal, Canada in 2002. Raising the notion of probiotics as possibly being relevant to mental health, he was literally laughed at. Even at a conference dedicated to the value of probiotics in human health, it was a bit too much. A decade later, with massive amounts of research still to be done, the gut-brain connection as mediated by microbes and its relevance to mental health no longer seems to be a laughable matter. Earlier this month, Kirsten Tillisch and colleagues published a landmark paper in <i>Gastroenterology</i> showing evidence of brain activity modulation by a probiotic containing fermented milk drink (4).</p> <p>This said, the curiosity on the issue will be there for some more years to come and we see that as an asset for <i>Gut Pathogens</i> to emerge as a preferred medium and prestigious platform to foster dialogue and discussion. Certainly, this will be augmented by continued submissions in the area of gut-brain axis; in particular, more mechanistic studies.</p> <p>References:</p><p>1: <a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/5/1/5/abstract">Bested AC, Logan AC, Selhub EM. Intestinal microbiota, probiotics and mental health: from Metchnikoff to modern advances: Part I – autointoxication revisited. Gut Pathog. 2013 Mar 18;5(1):5. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23506618.</a></p> <p>2: <a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/5/1/3">Bested AC, Logan AC, Selhub EM. Intestinal microbiota, probiotics and mental health: from Metchnikoff to modern advances: Part II -- contemporary contextual research. Gut Pathog. 2013 Mar 14;5(1):3. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23497633.</a></p> <p>3: <a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/5/1/4/abstract" target="_blank">Bested AC, Logan AC, Selhub EM. Intestinal microbiota, probiotics and mental health: from Metchnikoff to modern advances: part III -- convergence toward clinical trials. Gut Pathog. 2013 Mar 16;5(1):4. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23497650.</a></p> <p>4: <a href="http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(13)00292-8/abstract?referrer=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23474283" target="_blank">Tillisch K, Labus J, Kilpatrick L, Jiang Z, Stains J, Ebrat B, Guyonnet D, Legrain-Raspaud S, Trotin B, Naliboff B, Mayer EA. Consumption of Fermented Milk Product with Probiotic Modulates Brain Activity. Gastroenterology. 2013 Mar 5. doi:pii: S0016-5085(13)00292-8. 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.02.043. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23474283</a>.</p> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-19873518123412472652012-04-28T18:25:00.001+05:302012-04-28T18:25:59.719+05:30Stop killing and demonizing microbes!Here is some relevant research. I have always followed in mind this line of thinking; microbes are our friends. Microbiota co-inhabiting us regulate our immune system and prevent us from allergies and immune deregulation. Daily shaving, shampooing, scrubbing with antibacterial soaps (Dettol, Savlon, Lifebuoy, etc.), gargles with spirited mouthwashes and then spraying denat and brut based deodorants - these have devastating impact on the body surface microbiota. We have been doing this for 50 years now and I am afraid, we might have by now grown a completely different bacterial microflora than what was populating our elders about 100 years ago. I think we can't say they were dirtier, but they were definitely healthier and active. Any thoughts? <br> <br><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/03/21/science.1219328.abstract" class="postlink">http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/03/21/science.1219328.abstract</a><br><br> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-86229036945663834432012-04-25T11:17:00.001+05:302012-04-25T11:17:21.933+05:30Recent and noteworthy in PLoS ONE: Testosterone and Cortisol Release among Spanish Soccer Fans Watching the 2010 World Cup Final<span style="color:rgb(48,48,48);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:21px">This field study investigated the release of testosterone and cortisol of a vicarious winning experience in Spanish fans watching the finals between Spain and the Netherlands in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer. Spanish fans (</span><em style="color:rgb(48,48,48);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:21px">n</em><span style="color:rgb(48,48,48);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:21px"> = 50) watched the match with friends or family in a public place or at home and also participated in a control condition. Consistent with hypotheses, results revealed that testosterone and cortisol levels were higher when watching the match than on a control day. However, neither testosterone nor cortisol levels increased after the victory of the Spanish team. Moreover, the increase in testosterone secretion was not related to participants' sex, age or soccer fandom, but the increase in total cortisol secretion during the match was higher among men than among women and among fans that were younger. Also, increases in cortisol secretion were greater to the degree that people were a stronger fan of soccer. Level of fandom further appeared to account for the sex effect, but not for the age effect. Generally, the testosterone data from this study are in line with the challenge hypothesis, as testosterone levels of watchers increased to prepare their organism to defend or enhance their social status. The cortisol data from this study are in line with social self-preservation theory, as higher cortisol secretion among young and greater soccer fans suggests that especially they perceived that a negative outcome of the match would threaten their own social esteem. Read this interesting Open Access article, in full, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0034814">here</a>.</span><div> <font color="#303030" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12px;line-height:21px"><br></span></font></div><div><font color="#303030" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12px;line-height:21px">Reference: </span></font><span style="color:rgb(48,48,48);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:11px;line-height:21px">van der Meij L, Almela M, Hidalgo V, Villada C, IJzerman H, et al. (2012) Testosterone and Cortisol Release among Spanish Soccer Fans Watching the 2010 World Cup Final. PLoS ONE 7(4): e34814. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034814</span></div> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-29371162798568358362012-02-28T12:56:00.000+05:302012-02-28T12:57:12.365+05:30National Science Day: Commemorating the legend - CV Raman<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLPa8nD_MTpV1R8x1mye5ziXpSb_71JWOSeHfEEVdHJrvxmoVyYxBcdxl4XRakuZIfoGzVPM78uef-i5bOa5k-EV_NOepioWY2TbCL2APOSg5hEzNx9ecOY3Gww-DXroC5eidE4WQxwX1/s1600/C+V+Raman-732366.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLPa8nD_MTpV1R8x1mye5ziXpSb_71JWOSeHfEEVdHJrvxmoVyYxBcdxl4XRakuZIfoGzVPM78uef-i5bOa5k-EV_NOepioWY2TbCL2APOSg5hEzNx9ecOY3Gww-DXroC5eidE4WQxwX1/s320/C+V+Raman-732366.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714084761710623026" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizXDwuny6kio-w9NDbB4baNFkJv9oXPVgSvmjMeOEpH-UNL3cqTOZq02-s3-Kzsk1Q5Y6QI9XyB2LuM1EYHmVA7bLDqqFv5NR87wrzU596i7nBrzcIAE_qjCJhTmAu2pDs-MjsSFALbO8j/s1600/sciday-733041.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizXDwuny6kio-w9NDbB4baNFkJv9oXPVgSvmjMeOEpH-UNL3cqTOZq02-s3-Kzsk1Q5Y6QI9XyB2LuM1EYHmVA7bLDqqFv5NR87wrzU596i7nBrzcIAE_qjCJhTmAu2pDs-MjsSFALbO8j/s320/sciday-733041.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714084761902405842" /></a></p>Raman's Message is enough a science blogger's delight this day:<p>"I would like to tell the young men and women before me not to lose<br>hope and courage. Success can only come to you by courageous devotion<br>to the task lying in front of you and there is nothing worth in this<br>world that can come without the sweat of our brow. I can assert<br>without fear of contradiction that the quality of the Indian mind is<br>equal to the quality of any Teutonic, Nordic or Anglo-Saxon mind.<br>What we lack is perhaps courage, what we lack is perhaps driving force<br>which takes one anywhere. We have, I think, developed an inferiority<br>complex. I think what is needed in India today is the destruction of<br>that defeatist spirit. We need a spirit of victory, a spirit that will<br>carry us to our rightful place under the sun, a spirit which will<br>recognize that we, as inheritors of a proud civilization, are entitled<br>to a rightful place on this planet. If that indomitable spirit were to<br>arise, nothing can hold us from achieving our rightful destiny." -<br>Sir CV RamanNiyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-47612293856730222872012-01-26T17:35:00.001+05:302012-01-26T17:35:25.654+05:30Gut Pathogens making a positive impact in 2012<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Verdana,Geneva,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:16px"><p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:10pt;margin-left:0cm"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The year has started positively for </font><a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/" style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(51,102,204);font-weight:normal"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><i>Gut Pathogens</i></font></a><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> with the news that the journal will receive its first Impact Factor in June 2012.<i>Gut Pathogens</i> is aiming to be ranked in the first quartile of </font><a href="http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=D&SC=KI" style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(102,153,255);font-weight:normal"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Gastroenterology and Hepatology journals</font></a><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">.</font></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:10pt;margin-left:0cm"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><i><img align="right" width="177" vspace="10" hspace="10" height="124" border="0" src="http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/figures/1757-4749-2-5-1.jpg" style="width: 177px; height: 124px; ">Gut Pathogens</i>, an internationally recognized journal, boasts an </font><a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/about/edboard" style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(102,153,255);font-weight:normal"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Editorial Board</font></a><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> consisting of leading researchers from around the world. A key factor in the journal's success has been its commitment to publishing articles that are topical and relevant to researchers in this field. In particular, <i>Gut Pathogens</i> has consistently published highly popular articles on</font><a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/search/results?terms=probiotics" style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(102,153,255);font-weight:normal"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> probiotics</font></a><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>, and is becoming a key journal for researchers in the field to submit their research. The journal will continue to publish high quality articles on probiotics in the future. (Image credit: <font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>Probiotic <i>Lactobacillus salivarius.</i> </font></font><span style="line-height:14px"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/2/1/5" style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(102,153,255);font-weight:normal">Sleator, <i>Gut Pathogens</i> 2010 <b>2</b>:5</a>)</font></span></font></font></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:10pt;margin-left:0cm"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font><span style="line-height:14px"></span></font></font></p><p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:10pt;margin-left:0cm"> <font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font><span style="line-height:14px"></span></font></font><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">There has been an increasing interest in pathogens such as <i>Clostridium difficile</i>, <i>E. coli</i> and <i>Salmonella</i> because of the significant emerging health problems they are causing in western countries. <i>Gut Pathogens</i> would like to invite scientists to </font><a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/manuscript" style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(102,153,255);font-weight:normal"><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">submit their research</font></a><font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> on these and similar themes to the journal for publication in 2012.</font></p> <p></p><p class="entryInfo" style="font-size:x-small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Posted by Srimathy Sriskantharajah at Biomed Central Blog on 26/1/2012</p></span> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-19307259307823865172011-12-06T23:14:00.005+05:302011-12-06T23:45:49.447+05:30Open Access versus ‘doing business on corpses’: Is PLoS ONE the choicest journal of the TB community?It is heartening to see PLoS ONE emerge as a preferred destination for tuberculosis and lung diseases research and the journal has already published >1300 articles in this area (<span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/cvnvdnb" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/cvnvdnb</a>)</span>, a volume equivalent to a 13 year output of the journal Tuberculosis (@ 100 articles per year) and of 6 years output of the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) (@ 240 articles per year).<br /> Given this, I must congratulate all those authors who have by publishing in ONE in a way dumped the might of the journals that block Open Access to TB research - something like 'doing business on the corpses'. They have for years blocked access to TB works - the situation worsened in high burden countries such as India (where 320000 people died of TB in 2010 alone). Very surprising and painful is the reality that one of these journals, the IJTLD is published by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease or the Union (<a href="http://www.theunion.org/" target="_blank">www.theunion.org</a>), one of the major champions of the cause of TB. While the Union is doing very laudable efforts in the area of TB control and prevention, I would urge them to consider widening unconditional Open Access to the IJTLD contents by the Indian TB communities (rather than linking access to membership/subscription). Why would someone become a member of the Union just to read an article in need? Currently, the Union makes available the journal through Ingenta Connect who charge about USD 40.00 per view, per article when accessed directly. The cost per view charged thereby is equivalent of the cost of food/ration for one month for a mid size, lower middle class family in India. The same is true with Tuberculosis articles, each accessible at the cost of USD 35.00 levied by Elsevier. The Union receives huge funding and donations from various sources and they should seriously think on converting their journal in to an Open Access, online only journal to better serve the down trodden.<br /> World over, the research on TB is mainly funded by tax payers' money and in no way the TB community should allow these journals to carve business out of this dreaded epidemic. PLoS ONE on the other hand generously waives off cost of article processing for all the authors who request for the same. Each article is available free of cost for unlimited download and distribution with no strings attached. That's why PLoS ONE stands today as one of the choicest journal of the TB researchers.Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-60843613179160689412011-11-10T18:10:00.001+05:302011-11-10T18:10:45.342+05:30German cows get clean chit for the outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O104:H4<h1 style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);"><b><font size="2">No evidence of the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain or enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) found in cattle faeces in northern Germany, the hotspot of the 2011 HUS outbreak area</font></b></h1> <p> <font size="2"><strong>Lothar H Wieler</strong>, <strong>Torsten Semmler</strong>, <strong>Inga Eichhorn</strong>, <strong>Esther M Antao</strong>, <strong>Bianca Kinnemann</strong>, <strong>Lutz Geue</strong>, <strong>Helge Karch</strong>, <strong>Sebastian Guenther</strong> and <strong>Astrid Bethe</strong></font><em> Gut Pathogens</em> 2011, <strong>3</strong>:17 <a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/3/1/17/abstract"><span class="pseudotab">doi:10.1186/1757-4749-3-17</span></a> Published: 3 November 2011 </p><p class="authors">Ruminants, in particular bovines, are the primary reservoir of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), but whole genome analyses of the current German ESBL-producing O104:H4 outbreak strain of sequence type (ST) 678 showed this strain to be highly similar to enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC). Strains of the EAEC pathotype are basically adapted to the human host. To clarify whether in contrast to this paradigm, the O104:H4 out-break strain and/or EAEC may also be able to colonize ruminants, we screened a total of 2.000 colonies from faecal samples of 100 cattle from 34 different farms - all located in the HUS outbreak region of Northern Germany - for genes associated with the O104:H4 HUS outbreak strain (stx2, terD, rfbO104, fliCH4), STEC (stx1, stx2, escV), EAEC (pAA, aggR, astA), and ESBL-production (blaCTX-M, blaTEM, blaSHV). Results: The faecal samples contained neither the HUS outbreak strain nor any EAEC. As the current outbreak strain belongs to ST678 and displays an enteroaggregative and ESBL-producing phenotype, we additionally screened selected strains for ST678 as well as the aggregative adhesion pattern in HEp-2 cells. However, we were unable to find any strains belonging to ST678 or showing an aggregative adhesion pattern. A high percentage of animals (28%) shed STEC, corroborating previous knowledge and thereby proving the validity of our study. One of the STEC also harboured the LEE pathogenicity island. In addition, eleven animals shed ESBL-producing E. coli. Conclusions: While we are aware of the limitations of our survey, our data support the theory, that, in contrast to other Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, cattle are not the reservoir for the O104:H4 outbreak strain or other EAEC, but that the outbreak strain seems to be adapted to humans or might have yet another reservoir, raising new questions about the epidemiology of STEC O104:H4. <strong><a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/3/1/17/abstract"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Access full article free of cost</span></a><br></strong> </p> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-7534441618199201202011-10-26T21:02:00.001+05:302011-10-26T21:02:56.429+05:30Feast of the Open Access Week: PLoS Won <div id="single-top" class="aside"> </div><span class="author vcard">By <a class="url fn n" href="http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?author=1" title="View all posts by Michael Eisen">Michael Eisen</a></span><span class="meta-sep"> | </span><span class="entry-date"><abbr class="published" title="2011-10-25T07:00:49+0000">October 25, 2011 (Courtesy: </abbr></span><span></span><a href="http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/" title="it is NOT junk" rel="home">it is NOT junk</a>) <p>When Pat Brown, Harold Varmus and I started the Public Library of Science (PLoS) 10 years ago with the goal of making the scientific and medical literature a universally freely available resource, most people in the science publishing industry dismissed us as naive idealists who didn't understand that publishing is a business that has to make money, or derided us as dangerous radicals hellbent on destroying them.</p> <p>So it has given me considerable pleasure to watch, over the past year or so, as one traditional publisher after another has responded to the smashing success of PLoS One by launching direct ripoffs that seek to capitalize on the business model we have established.</p> <p>For those of you who don't know, <a href="http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/www.plosone.org" target="_blank">PLoS One,</a> launched in 2006, does things a bit differently than most scientific journals. Every paper submitted to the journal is peer reviewed, but the reviewers and editors consider <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>only</strong></span> the technical merits of the paper in deciding whether or not it should be published – they do not attempt (as virtually all other journals do) to gauge the potential significance or sexiness of the paper. The result is a simple and objective peer review process that gets papers published quickly and, because it is an open access journal, in a place where it is accessible for anyone to find and read. To cover the costs of running the journal and handling the paper, authors of accepted papers pay a fee (currently $1,350 – he money comes from their research grants or institutions, not from their own pockets, and any authors who say they can not pay are granted waivers).</p> <p>And apparently authors love PLoS One, because they are sending us lots of paper. The journal published 6,700 articles in 2010 and will publish around 12,000 in 2011. This has clearly caught the attention of lots of established publishers, as the past year has seen the launch of a series of PLoS One clones, including:</p> <ul><li>The American Society for Microbiology's <a href="http://mbio.asm.org/">mBio</a></li><li>The Genetics Society of America's <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/index.html">G3</a></li><li><a href="http://bmjopen.bmj.com/">BMJ Open</a></li> <li>Company of Biologists <a href="http://open.biologists.com/">Biology Open</a></li><li>Nature's <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/index.html">Scientific Reports</a></li><li>Cell Press's <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</a></li> <li>The Royal Society's <a href="http://royalsocietypublishing.org/site/openbiology/">Open Biology</a></li><li><a href="http://sgo.sagepub.com/">SAGE Open</a></li></ul> <p>joining already existing offerings from open access publishers <a href="http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/www.biomedcentral.com">BioMed Central</a>, <a href="http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/hindawi.com">Hindawi</a> and others.</p> <p>This is, in many ways, exactly what we hoped would happen. In 2001 most publishers lacked both the foresight to see how publishing could better serve the research community, and the incentive to bother figuring it out. Now, PLoS One's volume, and the threat it poses to their existing journals, provides the motivation, and PLoS One's financial success (it is profitable) serves as an inspiration. Our goal was always to see that papers were published in open access journals. If they were PLoS journals – great. But if they were from other publishers – that's great too.</p> <p>And here, there is a bit of a rub. PLoS and BMC established the standard for open access publishing by adopting the Creative Commons Attribution License (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/">CC-BY</a>), which allows for unrestricted reuse and redistribution subject only to the constraint that the original authors and source be cited. Several of the new journals follow our lead and use CC-BY, including G3, Open Biology and SAGE Open. I fully endorse what these publishers are doing, and have already published one <a href="http://www.g3journal.org/content/1/1/11.short">paper</a> in G3.</p> <p>The others have not been so enlightened, using exclusively (or in one case optionally) licenses that restrict commercial reuse or the generation of derivitive works.</p> <p><a href="http://www.g3journal.org/content/1/1/11.short">CC-BY-NC</a> – BMJ Open</p> <p><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/">CC-NC-SA</a> – mBio, Biology Open</p> <p><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">CC-BY-NC-ND</a> – Scientific Reports</p> <p>CC-BY or CC-BY-NC-ND – Cell Reports</p> <p>This is a very misguided decision on the part of these publishers. The rules governing reuse of content matter a lot if we are ever going to start making more effective use of the published scientific literature. The non-commercial licenses employed by BMJ, Nature, ASM, Company of Biologists, Cell Press and Nature all – rather absurdly – prevent PLoS from reusing their content in tools we are developing to help researchers organize literature in their fields and make the contents of papers they care about more useful. I hope this is a short-lived mistake and that, following Netflix, they realize the error of their ways and switch to a CC-BY license (in the meantime, I urge people who care about open access to continue supporting only those journals that use the CC-BY license).</p> <p>There is, obviously, still a long way to go before we achieve our original goal of making every paper immediately freely available. Buit it's hard not to see events of the last year as anything but a major victory for PLoS and open access.</p> <p>Happy Open Access Week!</p> <p>[UPDATE: I want to clarify that Cell Reports does not view itself as a PLoS One clone, as it will be rejecting papers on the basis of impact/importance. I also want to commend them for offering the CC-BY license to authors, although I think that many will naively choose the NC version].</p> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-52177145063830229952011-09-30T11:50:00.002+05:302011-09-30T19:47:28.127+05:30PLoSONE: Global Conservation Priorities for Marine Turtles<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6SGnjVS0ksy9FPCt-GF-jF57xFU6xEqTuHjP4muvLWixnXWREeztCvyLJfCVaLcuJth7Irsi_iEZv7mSYNqV7UGH9Gh1I0THuVE7o_xkAFlj8hv2VLHL8duHXOmCbbTS2pSFpiv-iQ4Wh/s1600/turtle-735584.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6SGnjVS0ksy9FPCt-GF-jF57xFU6xEqTuHjP4muvLWixnXWREeztCvyLJfCVaLcuJth7Irsi_iEZv7mSYNqV7UGH9Gh1I0THuVE7o_xkAFlj8hv2VLHL8duHXOmCbbTS2pSFpiv-iQ4Wh/s320/turtle-735584.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658156447238210882" border="0" /></a>Wallace BP, DiMatteo AD, Bolten AB, Chaloupka MY, Hutchinson BJ, et al. (2011) Global Conservation Priorities for Marine Turtles. PLoS ONE 6(9): e24510 - <span style="color:blue;"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0024510" target="_blank">Read full article here for free</a></span><div class="gmail_quote"> <p style="text-align:left">Where conservation resources are limited and conservation targets are diverse, robust yet flexible priority-setting frameworks are vital. Priority-setting is especially important for geographically widespread species with distinct populations subject to multiple threats that operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Marine turtles are widely distributed and exhibit intra-specific variations in population sizes and trends, as well as reproduction and morphology. However, current global extinction risk assessment frameworks do not assess conservation status of spatially and biologically distinct marine turtle Regional Management Units (RMUs), and thus do not capture variations in population trends, impacts of threats, or necessary conservation actions across individual populations. To address this issue, we developed a new assessment framework that allowed us to evaluate, compare and organize marine turtle RMUs according to status and threats criteria. Because conservation priorities can vary widely (i.e. from avoiding imminent extinction to maintaining long-term monitoring efforts) we developed a "conservation priorities portfolio" system using categories of paired risk and threats scores for all RMUs (n = 58). We performed these assessments and rankings globally, by species, by ocean basin, and by recognized geopolitical bodies to identify patterns in risk, threats, and data gaps at different scales. This process resulted in characterization of risk and threats to all marine turtle RMUs, including identification of the world's 11 most endangered marine turtle RMUs based on highest risk and threats scores. This system also highlighted important gaps in available information that is crucial for accurate conservation assessments. Overall, this priority-setting framework can provide guidance for research and conservation priorities at multiple relevant scales, and should serve as a model for conservation status assessments and priority-setting for widespread, long-lived taxa. Image coutesy: WWF. <span style="color:blue;"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0024510" target="_blank">Read full article here for free</a></span></p></div>Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-51514777876468582562011-09-06T19:45:00.000+05:302011-09-06T19:46:08.635+05:30Hot in PLoS ONE: Do Facial Expressions Develop before Birth?<h3 style="font-weight: normal;"><strong style="font-weight: normal;">Citation: </strong>Reissland N, Francis B, Mason J, Lincoln K (2011) <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0024081">Do Facial Expressions Develop before Birth?</a> PLoS ONE 6(8): e24081. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024081</h3><h3>Background</h3> <p>Fetal facial development is essential not only for postnatal bonding between parents and child, but also theoretically for the study of the origins of affect. However, how such movements become coordinated is poorly understood. 4-D ultrasound visualisation allows an objective coding of fetal facial movements.</p> <h3>Methodology/Findings</h3> <p>Based on research using facial muscle movements to code recognisable facial expressions in adults and adapted for infants, we defined two distinct fetal facial movements, namely "cry-face-gestalt" and "laughter- gestalt," both made up of up to 7 distinct facial movements. In this conceptual study, two healthy fetuses were then scanned at different gestational ages in the second and third trimester. We observed that the number and complexity of simultaneous movements increased with gestational age. Thus, between 24 and 35 weeks the mean number of co-occurrences of 3 or more facial movements increased from 7% to 69%. Recognisable facial expressions were also observed to develop. Between 24 and 35 weeks the number of co-occurrences of 3 or more movements making up a "cry-face gestalt" facial movement increased from 0% to 42%. Similarly the number of co-occurrences of 3 or more facial movements combining to a "laughter-face gestalt" increased from 0% to 35%. These changes over age were all highly significant.</p> <h3>Significance</h3> <p>This research provides the first evidence of developmental progression from individual unrelated facial movements toward fetal facial gestalts. We propose that there is considerable potential of this method for assessing fetal development: Subsequent discrimination of normal and abnormal fetal facial development might identify health problems in utero.</p> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-6821843974709885112011-08-10T19:52:00.001+05:302011-08-10T19:52:36.039+05:30From PLoS Blogs: Ramadan: Holy month and field experiment<h1 class="entry-title"></h1>By <a class="url fn n" href="http://blogs.plos.org/wonderland/author/eanthes/" title="View all posts by Emily Anthes">Emily Anthes</a><br><div class="entry-meta"><span class="meta-prep-author meta-prep"><span class="author vcard"></span><span class="entry-date"></span></span><br> Ramadan, the Islamic holy month during which Muslims fast during daylight hours, began last week. But Ramadan is more than a holiday–it's also a unique research opportunity. The month provides a large population of people who are fighting against their normal circadian rhythms, eating and being active mostly when it's dark. Back in 2007, I wrote <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2007/08/20/labs_explore_health_effects_of_ramadan/">a story</a> for <em>The Boston Globe </em>about what scientists were learning by studying how the body adjusts to this topsy-turvy month.<strong> </strong>In honor of Ramadan, here's a good chunk of that story:</div> <blockquote><p>During Ramadan, Muslims eat and get more active just when their bodies are used to winding down, creating sleep disruptions, hormonal changes, and sometimes mood impacts.</p> <p>"Their biological clocks are no longer in harmony with their watches," said Yvan Touitou, a chronobiologist at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. "Ramadan is capable of desynchronizing people."</p> <p>Touitou's research has illustrated that Ramadan can alter the usual circadian patterns of cortisol, a stress hormone, and testosterone, with sharper decreases of these hormones in the morning and later rises at night – though the impact of these rhythm disruptions is unclear.</p> <p>The holiday also changes the schedule of the release of leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and weight, and decreases the peak levels of melatonin, a hormone released at night to induce sleep. Interestingly, despite the disruption in leptin and in daily eating patterns, Ramadan rarely causes significant changes in body weight. Investigating why this is the case could yield useful insights into human energy metabolism, said Tom Reilly, a sports scientist at Liverpool John Moores University in England who has studied circadian rhythms and Ramadan.<span id="more-1469"></span></p> <p>"Normally, your body clock is affected by the alternation of light and darkness – light is the signal to become alert. With Ramadan, fasting is obligatory at exactly the time the body is gearing up for activity," Reilly said. "It's an exact reversal of the usual pattern."</p> <p>Florian Chapotot, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago, found that subjects showed an overall decrease in the amount of sleep they got during the holiday – not surprising given that typically, Ramadan adherents often fit in two or three meals between sunset and sunrise.</p> <p>What was most interesting, Chapotot said, was the finding that subjects also spent a smaller proportion of their sleep time in slow-wave and REM sleep, both of which "are important because they have restorative functions."</p> <p>It's still not clear, however, whether sleep disruptions are a result of changes in melatonin secretion, other physiological rhythms or behavioral patterns during the holiday.</p> <p>The effects of all these physiological changes are unknown. Research has shown that motor skills, such as reaction times, muscle, and learning performance decrease significantly during the holiday and that sleepiness and traffic accidents increase. But scientists are investigating whether these changes are direct results of circadian rhythm disruption.</p> <p>And despite its usefulness, Ramadan is difficult to study, partly because of the sheer number of variables. The month, part of the lunar Islamic calendar, moves forward by about 11 days every year, and the length of daily fasting can range from 12 hours upward, depending on location and time of year.</p> <p>Additionally, those who observe the holiday have wildly different ways of coping with the altered hours – some take naps during the day and stay up most of the night, while others only slightly alter their usual sleeping patterns.</p> <p>"The use of Ramadan as a chronobiological model is a little bit messy. We cannot get control of all of the variables," Reilly said. But, "it's a beautiful field experimental condition."</p></blockquote> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-82151520354140224542011-07-28T21:32:00.001+05:302011-07-28T21:32:40.635+05:30E. coli genome crowd-sourcing consortium publishes their data: why choose a closed access magazine for an Open Source project?The <a href="https://github.com/ehec-outbreak-crowdsourced/BGI-data-analysis/wiki"><em>E. coli</em> O104:H4 Genome Analysis Crowd-Sourcing Consortium</a> today published <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1107643#t=article">their findings</a> in the New England Journal of Medicine. The paper ignores previous authors' published efforts on the similar lines and the findings reported are not surprising and not newer than the data published by two German groups in Archives Microbiology and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0022751">PLoS ONE</a>; I handled peer review for the latter study. Having said this, what is disgusting is that the crowd-sourcing consortium have in a way strengthened the agenda of closed access publishing syndicates who run the 'glamour magazines' of science and medicine! As a consequence, the entire purpose of the idea of an Open Source platform for the analysis of the <i>E. coli</i> epidemic stands defeated. The journal may not allow universal access to the article by holding copy right over the much acclaimed 'Open Source' data of this consortium - meaning that <a href="http://www.nejm.org/page/about-nejm/permissions">no unrestricted access and creative reuse will be possible</a> as against the practice of most Open Access journals. <br> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-80924548085672941982011-07-21T13:12:00.000+05:302011-07-21T13:13:03.435+05:30Prevent leptospirosis: wear good quality shoes during Monsoon<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzrR8nVqsO55ohvohloG7qZ1lujSOK87dHFZtaRBM1mzGcOPzRmkiRA6FN_dXJIrn5Y3l9dYmkUBatPwWWBC7w74t4ZwNB0wYhBj6tpjAD8C2fuTw4EU0QWaGU5-chEgEYtR8GrLyr-34/s1600/28112009%2528001%2529-783436.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzrR8nVqsO55ohvohloG7qZ1lujSOK87dHFZtaRBM1mzGcOPzRmkiRA6FN_dXJIrn5Y3l9dYmkUBatPwWWBC7w74t4ZwNB0wYhBj6tpjAD8C2fuTw4EU0QWaGU5-chEgEYtR8GrLyr-34/s320/28112009%2528001%2529-783436.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631707939453321138" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjBsQSbuSy3GDi1pO_tHz0vs2LWYuFcxwLoVkI0WpTKq7RjifDCmbPDE-fDUNrOWZqiJn7NFNZ34z5BTuXctb2cj3Wl1JuGiHEBUmjg_vx8qLT1pc6sw6GV7vJpQw2KfdHq_mev9kb02Z/s1600/lepto1-785026.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjBsQSbuSy3GDi1pO_tHz0vs2LWYuFcxwLoVkI0WpTKq7RjifDCmbPDE-fDUNrOWZqiJn7NFNZ34z5BTuXctb2cj3Wl1JuGiHEBUmjg_vx8qLT1pc6sw6GV7vJpQw2KfdHq_mev9kb02Z/s320/lepto1-785026.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631707944671303074" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Z_k42AZXOhsU8TkjNBuHQH_mZJB95BDVGFCPprGWC9WLmfLvpdAZc85CYx4X0JNw5pzAl540y_Lw3U7iI-B2o1UuSXHvNL_W6MsbZ-25FhEE42698oZ_uiMuAL0v9cfJp-iNIUSQO7tA/s1600/lepto2-786281.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Z_k42AZXOhsU8TkjNBuHQH_mZJB95BDVGFCPprGWC9WLmfLvpdAZc85CYx4X0JNw5pzAl540y_Lw3U7iI-B2o1UuSXHvNL_W6MsbZ-25FhEE42698oZ_uiMuAL0v9cfJp-iNIUSQO7tA/s320/lepto2-786281.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631707946910453698" /></a></p><div>These pics explain why we get lepto outbreaks each year in June-July. The leptospira penetrate wet skin by by their cork-screw like action. No vaccine is needed as long as you wear long shoes and do not expose to contaminated water spills.</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-28366553175771840842011-07-21T06:13:00.001+05:302011-07-21T06:13:23.766+05:30Prospective genomics in epidemics – lessons from the German E. coli outbreak<strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">By Jennifer Laloup</span><i style="font-weight: normal;"> </i><span style="font-weight: normal;">(</span><i style="font-weight: normal;">EveryONE</i><span style="font-weight: normal;">)</span><br> <br>Today we published an article by Mellmann et al. entitled, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0022751"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Prospective Genomic Characterization of the German Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O104:H4 Outbreak by Rapid Next Generation Sequencing Technology</span></a>. The following is an opinion piece by <a href="http://www.isogem.org/niyaz.html">Dr. Niyaz Ahmed</a>, a section editor for <em>PLoS ONE</em> and the academic editor of this paper. He is an expert in the area of molecular epidemiology and genomics of bacterial pathogens at the <a href="http://www.uohyd.ernet.in/">University of Hyderabad, India</a>. </strong><br><br><br>When a monstrously virulent strain of never-before-seen E. coli suddenly appeared in Germany last month, the rush to decode became an immediate focus. Several groups became engaged simultaneously to crack the genome of the underlying bug and then followed a huge crowd-sourcing effort on the internet as soon as the genome sequences were made available. Given that reasonable data were made available by these authors within 60 hours of the outbreak, not much of the evolutionary history of the organism had been dissected and a great deal of the interpretation remained vague.<br> <br>An informed, scientific treatise was needed to help health control authorities and policy makers launch a serious mitigation campaign; this work, in that sense, constitutes the first official report on the genomic footprint of the underlying E. coli strain. The authors report chronological (step-wise) recombination of the genome in the outbreak strains over a period of ten years. This reveals the extraordinary capability of certain pathogens to recombine so that a devastating phenotype finally emerges with a multi-dimensional fitness advantage. Further, the study of Mellmann et al. demonstrates the might of present-day sequencing technologies such as Ion Torrent in enabling genome-guided epidemiology, diagnostics, and interventions.<br> <br>I have no hesitation to say that the study carried out by Mellmann et al. is truly a technical masterpiece, a first time proof-of-principle whereby next generation sequencing could be harnessed in real-time when certain 'gold standards' such as serotyping failed miserably. This report has an important bearing on the new proposed field of 'epidemic forecasting' in which the spread potentials of a pathogen could be predicted based on genomic fingerprints – in other words, predicting if the infection will assume pandemic proportions. The finding that the E. coli strains analyzed were enteroaggregative (EAEC) could explain this. EAECs could persist in recovered or subclinical cases and that they could be carried by the latter on travel routes worldwide.<br> <br>One of the possible shortcomings of the study could be that it is silent on the mechanistic details of 'adornment' of these bacteria with several layers of fitness – multiple antibiotic resistance, acid tolerance, enteroaggregative capacity and shigatoxin production all bundled up in one 'naturally' chimeric strain in just 10 years is extremely dramatic! The pace of evolution of the German outbreak strains has surpassed even Helicobacter pylori, an organism notorious for its speed of recombination, recasting its entire genome every forty years. We recently had an opportunity to sequence and look at H. pylori genomes hierarchically obtained across ten years. We did not find major insertion, deletion and substitution events.<br> <br>Technology helped with the dissection of the E. coli epidemic in hours and days, but the editorial process also was seamless and prompt enough to enable rapid dissemination of results. Open and early access is very important for the dissemination of findings during epidemic times because much of the control and mitigation measures need planning in the light of latest research findings. Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-3373125095227277492011-07-10T20:33:00.000+05:302011-07-10T20:34:11.792+05:30Impact Factors of Biomed Central journals<p>The 2010 edition of Thomson Reuters' Journal Citation Reports, released on June 28th 2011, provides further evidence that open access journals are delivering not only high visibility but also high rates of citation and impact.</p> <p><span lang="EN-US">Altogether, 101 BioMed Central journals now have official impact factors. 21 journals recorded their first impact factors this year. Meanwhile, among the 80 journals which already had impact factors, 52 increased while only 28 declined. The average change in impact factor was an increase of 0.19 points.</span></p> <p><span lang="EN-US">Some highlights:</span></p><ul><li><i><span lang="EN-US"><i><a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed/">BMC Medicine</a></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"> (IF 5.75) saw a huge jump in its impact factor and is now in the top 10% of journals in the General Medicine category</span></span></i></li> <li><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.retrovirology.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span>Retrovirology</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US"> (IF 5.24), is now 4<sup>th</sup> of 32 in the Virology category, overtaking <i>Journal of Virology</i></span></li><li><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.malariajournal.com/">Malaria Journal</a> </span></i><span lang="EN-US">(IF 3.49) recorded its third successive increase and remains the 2<sup>nd</sup> most highly ranked journal in the Tropical Medicine category</span></li><li><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://jcmr-online.com/">Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US"> (IF 4.33), official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, almost doubled its previous impact factor of 2.28</span></li><li><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcplantbiol/">BMC Plant Biology</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US"> (IF 4.09) increased from 3.77 to confirm its ranking in the top 10% of the Plant Science category</span></li><li><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcvetres">BMC Veterinary Research</a> </span></i><span lang="EN-US">(IF 2.37) makes an exceptionally strong start, ranking 8<sup>th</sup> of 145 in the Veterinary Sciences category</span></li><li><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/">Frontiers of Zoology</a> </span></i><span lang="EN-US">(IF 2.42) debuts in the JCR in the top 10% of the Zoology category</span></li><li><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.particleandfibretoxicology.com/">Particle and Fibre Toxicology</a> </span></i><span lang="EN-US">(IF 4.91)<i> </i>ranks 4th of 83 in the Toxicology category</span></li><li><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.celldiv.com/"><i>Cell Division</i></a> (IF 4.09) and <a href="http://www.epigeneticsandchromatin.com/"><i>Epigenetics & Chromatin</i></a> (IF 4.73) also both make strong starts</span></li></ul> <p><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">Full list of 2010 impact factors for BioMed Central journals<br></span></b>(journals listed<b> in bold </b>have new or improved impact factors) </p><p> </p><table bgcolor="#000000" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="80%"> <tbody> <tr align="center" bgcolor="#dddddd"> <td align="left"><b><font size="2"> </font></b><b><font size="2">Journal </font></b></td> <td align="left"> <b><font size="2">2010 IF</font></b></td> <td><b><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.20</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Algorithms for Molecular Biology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.80</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Arthritis Research & Therapy</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.36</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Behavioral Brain Functions</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.31</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Biology Direct</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.74</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Biological Procedures Online</font></td> <td> <font size="2">0.74</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BioMedical Engineering OnLine</font></td> <td> <font size="2">1.12</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Biotechnology for Biofuels</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.15</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Bioinformatics</font></td> <td> <font size="2">3.03</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Biology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">5.20</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Biotechnology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.86</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Cancer</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.15</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Cardiovascular Disorders</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.02</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Cell Biology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.46</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.20</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Developmental Biology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.78</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Evolutionary Biology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">3.70</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Family Practice</font></td> <td> <font size="2">1.47</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Gastroenterology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.47</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Genetics</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.49</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Genomics</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.21</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Health Services Research</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.72</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Immunology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.00</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Infectious Diseases</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.83</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Medical Education</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.20</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Medical Genetics</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.44</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Medical Genomics</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.77</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.23</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Medical Research Methodology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.15</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Medicine</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>5.75</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Microbiology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.96</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Molecular Biology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.19</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.94</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Nephrology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.14</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Neurology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.80</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Neuroscience </b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.09</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Pediatrics</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.90</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Plant Biology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.09</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Psychiatry</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.89</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Public Health</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.36</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Structural Biology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.26</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">BMC Systems Biology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">3.57</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>BMC Veterinary Research</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.37</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Breast Cancer Research</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>5.79</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Cardiovascular Diabetology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.72</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Cardiovascular Ultrasound</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.56</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Cell Division</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.09</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Chemistry Central Journal<sup>*</sup></font></td> <td> <font size="2">1.12</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Critical Care</font></td> <td> <font size="2">4.60</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Diagnostic Pathology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.39</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Environmental Health</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.45</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Epigenetics & Chromatin</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.73</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Frontiers in Zoology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.52</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Genetics Selection Evolution </b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.48</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Genome Biology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>6.89</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Geochemical Transactions</font></td> <td> <font size="2">1.92</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Harm Reduction Journal</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.46</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Human Resources for Health</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.38</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Health and Quality of Life Outcomes</font></td> <td> <font size="2">1.86</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>0.96</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Implementation Science</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.51</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>International Journal for Equity in Health </b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.30</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.17</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">International Journal of Health Geographics</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.34</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Irish Veterinary Journal</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>0.33</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Journal of Biomedical Science </font></td> <td> <font size="2">1.96</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>0.91</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.33</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.92</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of Hematology & Oncology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.93</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of Inflammation</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.02</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.27</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.64</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of Neuroinflammation</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>5.79</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of the International Society for Sports Nutrition</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.68</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Journal of Translational Medicine</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.51</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Lipids in Health and Disease</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.24</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Malaria Journal</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.49</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Microbial Cell Factories</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.54</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Molecular Cancer</font></td> <td> <font size="2">3.78</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Molecular Neurodegeneration</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>5.36</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Molecular Pain </font></td> <td> <font size="2">4.15</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Neural Development</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.40</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Nutrition & Metabolism</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.35</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Nutrition Journal</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.56</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>5.93</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Parasites and Vectors</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.13</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Particle and Fibre Toxicology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>4.91</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Plant Methods</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.28</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Proteome Science</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.49</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Radiation Oncology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.41</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology</font></td> <td> <font size="2">1.70</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2">Respiratory Research</font></td> <td> <font size="2">2.86</font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"> </font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Retrovirology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>5.24</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.18</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Substance AbuseTreatment, Prevention, and Policy</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.58</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.60</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Trials</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.08</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Veterinary Research</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>3.77</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>Virology Journal</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>2.55</b></font></td> <td><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><b> </b></font></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td> <font size="2"><b>World Journal of Surgical Oncology</b></font></td> <td> <font size="2"><b>1.12</b></font></td> <td> <b><font size="2" color="#ff0000">New</font></b></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> * Based on Web of Science data, the impact factor listed for Chemistry Central Journal appears to be erroneously low and has been queried with Thomson Reuters.<br><br>For further information on impact factors and journal tracking, see <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/faq?name=impactfactor">BioMed Central's impact factor FAQ</a>.</p> <p>Posted by Matt Cockerill<br></p> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-41699377044715588492011-07-06T11:01:00.001+05:302011-07-06T11:09:33.228+05:30Words to avoid in presentations and in speech<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_uokB7gynQ0FVY3H_eNLme1F6W0lJFXX6YYTswpR29JpCss6AyhZUGk4fa3mqCQsVHNGdb5gP1CACf3ob31ZAyuAj6fB8SBqOcho4QIWhsEiOJmvmtiTgaTjieJql2H-pXD7DcgiK8A4/s1600/BJM.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626109664334254546" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 217px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_uokB7gynQ0FVY3H_eNLme1F6W0lJFXX6YYTswpR29JpCss6AyhZUGk4fa3mqCQsVHNGdb5gP1CACf3ob31ZAyuAj6fB8SBqOcho4QIWhsEiOJmvmtiTgaTjieJql2H-pXD7DcgiK8A4/s320/BJM.jpg" border="0" /></a>Barry J Marshall (courtesy: <a href="http://barryjmarshall.blogspot.com/">http://barryjmarshall.blogspot.com/</a>)<br /><br /><br /><div class="post-header">This month I have decided to go public with my list of "meaningless words" which should no longer be used in public, especially not in meetings or presentations and never on TV or radio. Here are the ones I recall today.<br /><br />1. Basically<br />a. This word has become a favourite of scientific people especially when they are answering questions. I am also guilty. Example as follows - Question: If the DNA is copied until the primer just falls off, how is it that all the pieces of DNA end up exactly the same length? Answer: Well, basically, you are almost correct however, only the first copy gives a random length. After that, basically, the primer in the next cycle has to start 637 base pairs from the start point of the first copy. So, basically, all except the first copy are the same length, basically 637.<br />2. I mean<br />a. This seems to be used as a spacer between sentences, where the speaker continually likes to embellish details and add ideas. I mean, just as one would normally give the listener person a chance to talk by leaving a short gap in the conversation, by using "I mean" the gap is stolen back so that the normal person might not get a word in edgeways. I mean, let's say that it was you being the listener, and you are a nice polite person; I mean, like Marj in the Simpsons. Then you never have a chance to speak because ...<br />3. Sort of<br />a. A vague term implying that the speaker has not put any thought into the discussion and is sort of making stuff up as he goes along. This seams to be common in presentations from young artists.<br />4. Yeah<br />a. Australians have become adept at placing this word in the middle of sentences as some kind of emphasis. I think it is very common in interviews with surfers; yeah – .<br />5. Absolutely<br />a. Television personalities, especially on gardening shows, continually say absolutely. Then the show "Absolutely Fabulous" started up perhaps as a send up of this trend. Recently it has been used more and more by almost everyone. By adding this word, a very vague concept suddenly becomes absolutely correct and proven beyond all doubt. Also, other words can be added to it, especially "fabulous" to make something rather mundane and boring into something apparently exciting. Take the concept of picking up handfuls of animal poo. We don't have smellovision yet, and the warm temperature of a putrefying heap is hard to transmit to the gardening audience. But I can call it compost and say how this material is absolutely the best thing for your garden. How absolutely fabulous it is to feel the warmth as you thrust your hands into the pile in order to experience nature as the good bacteria convert biodegradeable organic material into absolutely perfect plant nutrients. Actually, it sounds rather attractive as I write this.<br />6. Umm<br />a. A non word, also used as a spacer to stop other people butting in. Luckily there is no need to use this on TV interviews because a smart editor will cut out all the wasted time anyway, so as to add more content, or another "non umming" person to the time allocated for the story.<br />7. Like<br />a. This word is more often used by teenagers – or even myself actually – as emphasis in a story. But it is used rather informally, among friends, with alcohol on board usually, and often as a preamble to an acted out part of the story telling. I am having trouble explaining it but here goes. Just say that I am telling you about a scene from the movie Avatar. So the main actor Sam Worthington is just a dumb marine so he's like, "I need to walk again so I will do anything to pay for an operation"; but Sigourney weaver, she's like some kind of genius professor so she's like "don't break the machinery you dumbass!" etc.<br />8. You know<br />a. Everyone uses this Phrase, again a spacer to show that you probably don't know all the facts but what you say is probably about right. Of course, as the brainy listener, you probably have more information or already have heard this story, but if you do know it you would not be so rude as to correct the speaker or embellish his own story. You know.<br /><br />I think it might be fun to add a few more of these and give funny examples. It would be good practice for a screen writer in a sitcom. My son reminded me of a program we used to have which converted normal speech to "Jive" which was a kind of black American street gang speech which most Australians would hardly ever hear but probably rappers and people from Los Angeles might be familiar with. Time is up – I can't spend my life just doing a blog. Back to real life. </div>Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-71889556444767847122011-07-03T18:50:00.001+05:302011-07-03T18:53:40.250+05:30SPARC Innovator Award for PLoS ONE<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4baMAm19pv-TKiw0JnwEFcIuzGHFUTb9fOG9AhFC0Vi3PxtibWufmtMayEl8c7xxMLNt9_VnpsswZncR8MjtiBxIV4OKcDCa-gBW8qpItSbYp0Iyie-HS-D1gHxw6Hp6Y5Enzt_C_fUna/s1600/library_vert.gif"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4baMAm19pv-TKiw0JnwEFcIuzGHFUTb9fOG9AhFC0Vi3PxtibWufmtMayEl8c7xxMLNt9_VnpsswZncR8MjtiBxIV4OKcDCa-gBW8qpItSbYp0Iyie-HS-D1gHxw6Hp6Y5Enzt_C_fUna/s320/library_vert.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625116132798936082" border="0" /></a><br /><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="mobile-photo">Because the concept of PLoS ONE was so simple, yet so revolutionary, its launch in December 2006 was met with equal parts excitement and skepticism. In the PLoS ONE model, editors and reviewers would not attempt to assess the potential importance of the work. Rather, as long as the research was determined to be solid, the author would pay a flat fee, and up it would go on the Web. Could something as simple as publishing articles just because they were "good science" really work?</p> <p>"The idea was to decouple impact assessment and technical assessment," says Mark Patterson, director of publishing for the Public Library of Science, who was one of the staff involved with the journal from the beginning. "We were also trying to take the hassle out of publishing."</p> <p>PLoS co-founders Pat Brown, Michael Eisen, and Harold Varmus were also the visionaries behind PLoS ONE, once again creating a new channel by viewing publishing through the lens of scientists. Their vision was to do away with the redundant process of submitting a paper to a journal, waiting for a rejection that was so often based on subjective qualities such as impact, and then resubmitting to a new title. Instead, research would be peer-reviewed against objective criteria and published after it was deemed worthy of joining the scientific literature—often with just one round of revisions. New technology would be leveraged so readers could add value to the content. Those comments would then help to indicate the importance of the work to the body of scientific knowledge.</p> <p>When the concept was first introduced, it created a lot of chatter—especially in the blogosphere, says Patterson. And, as with any new journal, no one knew what the response would be. Even supporters of PLoS ONE wondered if the model would be seen as selective and prestigious in the scientific community. "I found it very exciting at the time," says Cameron Neylon, a biochemist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Didcot, England, and member of the PLoS ONE Academic Editor board. "But I was less than convinced it would take off." </p> <p>It didn't take long before PLoS ONE began emphatically to answer the skeptics.</p> <p>In 2007, the journal received about 2,500 submissions and published 1,200 articles. In 2010, PLoS ONE received nearly 13,560 articles and published 6,800—with about 60 being published daily. It is now the single largest journal being published today.</p> <p>The PLoS ONE business model is scalable. Its publishing costs have always been fully covered by the publication fees and it became a financial success. In 2010, due in part to this meteoric rise, PLoS became self-sustaining. The innovative concept and its capacity for rapid growth have caught the attention of other publishers. In a clear nod to the success of PLoS ONE, "clones" are popping up —from SAGE Open, to BMJ Open to <em>Scientific Reports</em> by <em>Nature</em>.</p> <p>For its groundbreaking model of open-access publishing success, SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), has named PLoS ONE as its July 2011 Innovator.</p> <p>"PLoS ONE is a game-changer," said Heather Joseph, SPARC's Executive Director. "It breaks through the preconception that authors— and readers—require a journal to determine the significance of scientific research, and demonstrates that the community is ready and willing to take on that role."</p> <p>PLoS ONE has made a powerful—and quick—change in scientific publishing, which is a conventional industry, says Peter Jerram, chief executive officer of PLoS. "It's a testament to the idea," he says. "If you only look at how rigorous the science is and whether the conclusions are supported by the data, then a lot of great science gets out there more quickly, including some that wouldn't otherwise see the light of day."</p> <p>The model represents something completely new and has attracted staff from more traditional publishers, such as Peter Binfield. In early 2008, Binfield succeeded Chris Surridge as managing editor of PLoS ONE. Binfield had been a career publisher who had always worked with the traditional subscription model. While he was one of the initial PLoS ONE skeptics, he felt Open Access was a better way to accelerate advancement in science and he very quickly became a fan of the journal. </p> <p>"It seemed self-evident to me that this was the future of academic publishing," says Binfield.</p> <p>It was groundbreaking to establish a journal that would publish first and only then figure out impact. With PLoS ONE, the author didn't get kudos or a badge of honor for being accepted to the journal. Rather, in this model the reader would make the judgment call as to how important the research was, from their unique vantage point.</p> <p>The PLoS ONE process is more efficient and transparent than the traditional, subjective journal peer review process. "Not asking the impact question makes it a cleaner and more objective review," says Binfield.</p> <p>And, contrary to early concerns that <strong>anything</strong> could make its way onto PLoS ONE, significant filters were established. On average, two external reviewers read every paper, and most are sent back to the author for revision. The journal applies stringent policies dealing with items such as disclosure requirements, data deposition standards, and ethical concerns. In addition, every paper has to pass a detailed technical checklist of over 40 items before even entering the peer review process. About 65-70 percent of submissions end up being published, says Binfield. Online tools are then used to evaluate, sort, and filter content after publication, not before. </p> <p>There are approximately 10,000 publishers today, producing 25,000 journals with about 1.5 million articles per year. In an industry that has been slow to change, PLoS ONE is proving that new business models that don't charge subscription fees can survive—and thrive, says Binfield. In four years, this one journal has become the largest peer-reviewed journal in existence. On its current trajectory, PLoS ONE could be responsible for publishing fully 3 percent of the biomedical literature in 2012.</p> <p>Looking ahead, Binfield sees the potential that, rather than having thousands of smaller journals, the vast majority of the world's literature could eventually be in as few as 100 journals, all with a similar profile to PLoS ONE. "It's moving very rapidly. It feels like a tipping point in the industry," he says.</p> <p><strong>The draw</strong></p> <p>Surveys of PLoS ONE authors help shed light on the journal's phenomenal success. The number one reason scientists submit is because it is open-access. They want their work to be freely accessible and widely available. The second draw is speed. Rather than waiting months or years to get a paper accepted in a traditional journal, PLoS ONE gets researchers' work out quickly. Finally, the quality of the PLoS brand is an important factor and the objective peer review is also appreciated, says Binfield.</p> <p>Gary Ward, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Vermont, who became Chair of the PLoS board of directors in January, just had his first paper accepted to PLoS ONE.</p> <p>He and other researchers welcome the relief that PLoS ONE provides from the "treadmill" of submitting and resubmitting to traditional journals, says Ward.</p> <p>"I love the concept of eliminating this huge waste of time by simply removing subjective evaluations of importance from the review process," says Ward. "If the paper is well-written and the conclusions don't overreach, then let the community decide the impact."</p> <p>Ward calls the PLoS ONE approach the ultimate in "crowd sourcing" that also contains rigorous review—just a different kind of peer review.</p> <p>PLoS ONE features original research from all disciplines within science and medicine (although most submissions are in life and health sciences). By providing an interdisciplinary platform, the hope is to facilitate discovery of connections between papers and subject areas. "The fact that you can read around the edges of a field is a big deal," says Binfield. "PLoS ONE forms a home for any article; it no longer has to have a journal of its own."</p> <p><strong>Behind the success</strong></p> <p>The concept of publishing without having to battle the system was the big driver behind the explosive growth of PLoS ONE. The trust of the PLoS brand also helped, says Patterson. Of course, there is the human capital that has had to expand to keep up with the rapidly growing journal.</p> <p>Handling 2,000 submissions a month and publishing 60 articles daily takes a substantial group of people. The paid staff on the journal, which handles the checks and balances of the system, has increased to handle the growing number of submissions. There are about 35 full-time equivalents, with some positions contracted out. Then there are 1,700 academic editors on the journal, individually handling each paper and finding peer reviewers so that every paper is appropriately reviewed.</p> <p>"We have been up to the challenge; we've kept pace," says Patterson.</p> <p>CEO Jerram says he is amazed at the dedication of the people who work for PLoS ONE and that has made a palpable difference in the journal's success. "There is a real passion and commitment there," he says.</p> <p>Binfield says while the staff works hard and the work can be stressful, it is a mission-driven organization, and they are energized by what they are doing. "We feel like we are doing the right thing for the right reasons," he says.</p> <p>The process has worked because the model scales with the volume of submissions: Every article adds more work, but also adds revenue. The publication fee for each published paper is $1,350, which is usually covered by grant money. Unlike a traditional journal, PLoS ONE allows researchers to publish papers of unlimited length, with full color throughout and containing any amount of supplemental material such as spreadsheets or videos. Occasionally authors take fee waivers, but about 90 percent of authors pay the full amount.</p> <p>The goal of making PLoS self-sustaining was met last year. The organization was originally established with the help of foundations and outsider support, but as the suite of publications has grown to make PLoS self-sustaining, they have been able to develop additional innovations such as article-level metrics, PLoS Currents and PLoS Hubs. </p> <p><strong>The followers and the future</strong></p> <p>"The model is working beautifully. It's financially sustainable and there is increasing rapid growth. This is something science is really embracing," says Ward. "The competition is crazy not to go this way," says Ward. The mission of PLoS is to make as much of the literature open-access as possible, and to show how Open Access can transform the literature into a more powerful resource for education and research.</p> <p>While PLoS ONE pioneered coverage of the whole of science, many who have adapted the model are using it for single subject areas, says Binfield. "We are encouraged and excited to see these clones launched," he says. "It validates that this model is here to stay … We can see the future path and the launch of these clones just cements it."</p> <p>Will PLoS adopt the PLoS ONE model for its other journals?</p> <p>Chairman of the Board Ward says that the history of PLoS, (which is based in San Francisco and Cambridge, England and is the world's largest not-for-profit open-access journal publisher) has always been one of an organization pushing the envelope. "We are constantly looking at the editorial structure, the business model," he says. However, once a journal is established, it is harder to make wholesales changes. Ward says PLoS will continue to consider what works best for all of its titles and the organization is committed to being innovative. "We want to keep PLoS on the cutting edge," says Ward.</p> <p>A goal of PLoS is to help publishers move into Open Access and PLoS ONE is indeed a new model for publishing, says Jerram. In the future, he says there may be better ways to communicate science than through journals. The real power and promise of Open Access is to make scientific information and data not only able to be read, but also re-used. "Open Access is the enabler that makes other things possible," says Jerram.</p> <p>Binfield envisions more and more journals following PLoS ONE's lead and he says that it is very exciting to see the transformations that are underway. "I come into work every day with the knowledge that I am helping to advance science by accelerating and improving the process of disseminating scientific results," he says. "It's an important thing to have the knowledge that what we are doing is making a big difference in the world."</p> <p>by Caralee Adams</p>Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-67619821234540778512011-06-30T16:35:00.001+05:302011-06-30T16:35:53.889+05:30Impact Factors of Indian Science Journals in 2011<div align="center"> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt" cellpadding="0" border="1"> <tbody> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Year</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Impact Factor (IF)</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Total Articles</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Total Cites</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2010</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1.826</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">166 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">3169</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2009</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1.516</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">178 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2812</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2008</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1.883</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">178 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2458</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> Indian Journal of Medical Research</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> <div align="center"> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt" cellpadding="0" border="1"> <tbody> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Year</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Impact Factor (IF)</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Total Articles</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Total Cites</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2010</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1.494</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">77 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">414</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2009</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">0.813</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">77 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">194</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2008</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">0.358</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">77 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">58</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> Journal of Genetics</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> <div align="center"> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt" cellpadding="0" border="1"> <tbody> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Year</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Impact Factor (IF)</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Total Articles</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Total Cites</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2010</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1.888</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">60 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1630</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2009</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1.956</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">82 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1274</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2008</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1.703</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">82 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">1045</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> Journal of Biosciences</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> <div align="center"> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt" cellpadding="0" border="1"> <tbody> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Year</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Impact Factor (IF)</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Total Articles</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Total Cites</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2010</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">0.824</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">58 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">696</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2009</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">0.574</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">59 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">696</span></p></td></tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">2008</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">0.579</span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">59 </span></p></td> <td style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">603</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-27927542746710806262011-06-30T16:19:00.001+05:302011-06-30T16:19:37.985+05:30Journal of Biosciences Impact Factor reversing<table align="center" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Year</td> <td style="COLOR: #ff0000">Impact Factor (IF)</td> <td>Total Articles</td> <td>Total Cites</td></tr> <tr> <td>2010</td> <td align="middle">1.888</td> <td>60 </td> <td>1630</td></tr> <tr> <td>2009</td> <td align="middle">1.956</td> <td>82 </td> <td>1274</td></tr> <tr> <td>2008</td> <td align="middle">1.703</td> <td>82 </td> <td>1045</td></tr></tbody></table> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-13496488065261463392011-06-29T20:19:00.001+05:302011-06-29T20:19:21.916+05:30PLoS ONE's 2010 Impact Factor is 4.411<div class="entry"> <p><em>PLoS ONE</em> received its 2010 journal impact factor today, 4.411, placing the open access journal in 12th spot among 85 Biology journals.</p> <p>The open access journal, published by the Public Library of Science, has grown rapidly since its launch in December, 2006. In 2010, it published nearly 7,000 articles and became the largest scientific journal in the world. Based on this trajectory, the publisher predicts 12,000 published articles by the end of 2011.</p> <p><em>PLoS ONE</em> is based on a scalable publishing model with an <a href="http://www.plosone.org/static/review.action" target="_blank">editorial board of 1,300 volunteer academics</a>. As an online-only publication, the growth of the journal is nearly limitless: The journal is purposefully interdisciplinary in nature, bases criteria for inclusion primarily on "<a href="http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2010/10/19/oa-sound-methodology/" target="_blank">sound methodology</a>," not novelty, and pays for itself through individual article fees. At the 2011 SSP Annual Conference, <em>PLoS ONE</em> publisher, <a href="http://www.plos.org/about/people/one.php" target="_blank">Peter Binfield</a>, believes that we've entered the era of the "OA Mega Journal." <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/PBinfield/ssp-presentation4" target="_blank">According to his predictions, by 2016, 50% of all STM articles will be published by 100 of these mega journals</a>.</p> <p>The metaphor to describe this new publishing model could go both ways: For the cynical, <em>PLoS ONE</em> is an alien <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blob" target="_blank">Blob</a> that is bent on devouring the publishing landscape; for its supporters, it represents a successful model to be emulated — and emulated it has. In the last two years, many subscription publishers have launched PLoS ONE-like journals (<a href="http://sgo.sagepub.com/" target="_blank"><em>SAGE Open</em></a>, <a href="http://bmjopen.bmj.com/" target="_blank"><em>BMJ Open</em></a>,<a href="http://www.biologists.com/index.html" target="_blank"><em>Biology Open</em></a>, and <a href="http://royalsocietypublishing.org/site/openbiology/" target="_blank"><em>Open Biology</em></a><em>,</em> to name a few) into the growing market, promising similar services–fast publication, high-acceptance, and article-level metrics — at competing prices.</p> <p>Expect several more entrants this year.</p> <p>To continue reading this article by Phil Davis please visit <a href="http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/" target="_blank">The Scholarly Kitchen</a></p> </div> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-3152256760105309692011-06-08T23:28:00.004+05:302011-06-24T12:02:54.644+05:30'Indians could actually be refrectory to the German E. coli strain' - Lothar Wieler<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621669399036632530" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 319px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 230px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhBbDmU28cv5o8UVasirQrYoAtEQQJJXIGCLnBPKiH_bHDdRkgk3DHKZjJSOZya0Fw4iH9zNvjUXFxmOOZ3P1w1ZgSVXxLyb5mqiL7J5z8g3SvXqqoBxC2FpmFxw2ohGzGQz78kklf_oe/s320/cow_jpg_crop_display.jpg" border="0" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUj0fl5MutDNkBM_gUPqPyGBoS5Xa7wn7TnivtcD81-6tEOvaAEorPSdiGqHM3UU5h2YxJotWU5ikl7Pi_i6daTtGfW6m_1FEZArHvNH74e50zExFR2KlIaUPxQ6eYDUd-kLLt8YO3Hsr/s1600/niyaz_cochin_ILS_final-721436.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615909922707951474" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUj0fl5MutDNkBM_gUPqPyGBoS5Xa7wn7TnivtcD81-6tEOvaAEorPSdiGqHM3UU5h2YxJotWU5ikl7Pi_i6daTtGfW6m_1FEZArHvNH74e50zExFR2KlIaUPxQ6eYDUd-kLLt8YO3Hsr/s320/niyaz_cochin_ILS_final-721436.png" border="0" /></a><br />My friend, <a href="http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/fup/2010/fup_10_368/index.html" target="_blank">Lothar Wieler</a>, called this evening from Berlin and informed that they are<span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;font-size:9;" > now tracing the history of the bacteria, and will be out in the field going after cows, trash and soil to know the natural descent of the outbreak strain! so that its kinships are established. This is now the natural scientific way out as the latest analysis released by the BJI indicates that the two German strains (01-09591 originally isolated in 2001 and TY2482 from the 2011 outbreak) have clonal profiles for all 12 virulence/fitness genes and 7 MLST housekeeping genes (100% identity). However, at some point over this 10-year period, the new 2011 outbreak strain might have accumulated mutations/plasmids that conferred ability to resist many additional types of antibiotics. In simple words, the source of the German EHEC outbreak is home grown - their own EAEC strain from a 2001 outbreak. </span><br /><br /><div class="ii gt" id=":1ej"><br /><div id=":1ei"><br /><div><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;font-size:9;" >I am hopeful Lothar and his team will succeed in their efforts. We discussed also the possibility that the new isolate being interoaggregative could become pandemic if certain patients turn chronic carriers and could take the bug with them on travel routes. The EU therefore should be proactive on containment of this outbreak within the boundaries of Germany. Lothar, (who is always surprised and amused on visibly unhygienic conditions in certain parts of India, such as heaps of garbage, open drains etc., and apparently healthy people with no institutionalized outbreaks! ) then laughed loud to say Indians could actually be immune to the EHEC like strains - so no worries!! and, I agree. So sometimes the cow dung around us could be 'auspicious' in many ways! </span></div></div></div>Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-85312302906330954792011-06-06T14:08:00.001+05:302011-06-06T14:08:34.669+05:30Crowdsourcing annotation of the German (monster-) E. coli (STEC O104:H4)?<div><em>By Mariam Rizkallah - Open Source Pharmacist</em></div> <div><em></em> </div> <div><em>(added by Niyaz Ahmed ->> Gut Pathogens will consider to publish any such annotation study on priority!) </em></div> <p>As soon as <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://www.genomics.cn/en/"><font color="#3478e3">Beijing Genomics Institute</font></a></span></span> has finished sequencing the <em>E. coli </em>strain that is responsible for the <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2011/ecoliO104/index.html" target="_blank"><font color="#3478e3">outbreak in Europe</font></a></span></span>, BGI made the "<span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://www.genomics.cn/en/news_show.php?type=show&id=644"><font color="#3478e3">draft assembly</font></a></span></span>" available for download. I didn't know the difference between a draft and the elegant assembled genome I used to work on while annotating phage capsid proteins, but I did believe that this outbreak idea is a phage thing, you know, <em>"Cherchez le phage!" </em>I wanted to annotate this <em>E. coli</em>.</p> <p>I suggested to <a title="It's a Microbeful World" href="http://microbes.wordpress.com/"><font color="#3478e3">Dr. Aziz</font></a> that this "genome sequence" may benefit from RAST (Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology – <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://rast.nmpdr.org/" target="_blank"><font color="#3478e3">http://rast.nmpdr.org</font></a></span></span>), the tool developed by <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://edwards.sdsu.edu/labsite/" target="_blank"><font color="#3478e3">Dr. Edwards' Lab</font></a></span></span> and <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://www.anl.gov/" target="_blank"><font color="#3478e3">ANL</font></a></span></span> for rapid and accurate annotation of bacterial and archaeal genomes. Dr. Aziz replied "Then what are you waiting for? Upload it to RAST". Then he told me how the draft is in "FASTQ" format, a machine output format that can not be an input for RAST (and for Real-Time Metagenomics.web in particular <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://edwards.sdsu.edu/rtmg/"><font color="#3478e3">http://edwards.sdsu.edu/rtmg/</font></a></span></span>). Dr. Aziz explained to me that each "run/genome fragment" will be treated as metagenome, that's why I should use RTMg.</p> <p><strong>Step1: Convert sequences from fastq to fasta: </strong>I searched the web for the problem, then I found this one-line program in Perl by <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://edwards.sdsu.edu/labsite/index.php/lab-members/66-robert-schmieder" target="_blank"><font color="#3478e3">Robert Schmeider</font></a></span></span>, PhD student at Dr. Edwards' lab on his <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="http://edwards.sdsu.edu/labsite/index.php/robert/289-how-to-convert-fastq-to-fasta"><font color="#3478e3">lab blog</font></a></span></span>. I am very grateful, Robert!</p> <p><strong>Step2: Uploading the draft in fasta format to RTMg </strong>as separate "runs". I don't know if it's the right measure, or I should've collected all "runs" in one big fasta file and let RTMg process them.</p> <p><strong>Step3:</strong>I made use of the "tab-separated" output of RTMg and saved it to a <span style="COLOR: #000080"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"><a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B6y-0nQtwXJoNTNmMmIxMTktNTA5YS00NjRjLThhZTMtYjZhYWFlM2JjOTll&hl=en_US&authkey=CMT-5egO" target="_blank"><font color="#3478e3">spreadsheet</font></a></span></span> (I do apologize, but the spreadsheet on Google is not viewable, please download it to edit it). I saved the results sorted by "function" and by "3-level subsystem".</p> <p>Step4: ??? I don't know really. I do want to make use of RTMg data, but I don't know where to start. I guess aligning the 5 runs as well as the strain vs other E. coli strains will be the answer. Community will take STEC O104:H4 down sooner than "it thought".</p> <p>I quote Dr. Aziz here:</p> <blockquote> <p>"RTMg is mainly a tool for metagenomics analysis, and it treats every sequence read as an environmental gene tag (EGT) or simply as an independent fragment. It cannot be really used to explain a genome; however, it gives a really quick ideaof what each sequence looks like, of the ratio of different genes, of the most frequent protein-encoding genes in this strain, the density of phage proteins (for example, you can write a script to count the word phage and calculate its percent to the overall genome), etc.</p> <p>There are two main things needed though before this: 1) is to clean up the sequence fragments; 2) is to assemble them (using, for example, NEWBLER). To check the sequence and clean it up check: Prinseq and Tagcleaner then re-run. Another way to benefit from RTMg would be to compare that strain with another one sequenced exactly the same way, which is not relevant here."</p> </blockquote> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-56133860957552643452011-05-21T11:37:00.001+05:302011-05-21T11:37:47.253+05:30New in Gut Pathogens: Metagenome of the gut of a malnourished childSen Gupta et al., Gut Pathogens 2011, 3:7doi:10.1186/1757-4749-3-7 (Access free full paper <a href="http://www.gutpathogens.com/content/pdf/1757-4749-3-7.pdf">here</a>)<br><br><i>Background</i><br><br>Malnutrition, a major health problem, affects a significant proportion of preschool children in developing countries. The devastating consequences of malnutrition include diarrhoea, malabsorption, increased intestinal permeability and suboptimal immune response etc. Nutritional interventions and dietary solutions have not been effective for treatment of malnutrition till date. Metagenomic procedures allow one to access the complex cross-talk between the gut and its microbial flora and understand how a different community composition affects various states of human health. In this study, a metagenomic approach was employed for analysing the differences between gut microbial communities obtained from a malnourished and an apparently healthy child.<br> <br><i>Results</i><br><br>Our results indicate that the malnourished child gut has an abundance of enteric pathogens which are known to cause intestinal inflammation resulting in malabsorption of nutrients. We also identified a few functional sub-systems from these pathogens, which probably impact the overall metabolic capabilities of the malnourished child gut.<br> <br><i>Conclusion</i><br><br>The present study comprehensively characterizes the microbial community resident in the gut of a malnourished child. This study has attempted to extend the understanding of the basis of malnutrition beyond nutrition deprivation. Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-43982683098640042962011-05-06T13:42:00.001+05:302011-05-06T13:42:43.057+05:30PLoS ONE: How Citation Boosts Promote Scientific Paradigm Shifts and Nobel Prizes<div>Nobel Prizes are commonly seen to be among the most prestigious achievements of our times. Based on mining several million citations, we quantitatively analyze the processes driving paradigm shifts in science. We find that groundbreaking discoveries of Nobel Prize Laureates and other famous scientists are not only acknowledged by many citations of their landmark papers. Surprisingly, they also boost the citation rates of their previous publications. Given that innovations must outcompete the rich-gets-richer effect for scientific citations, it turns out that they can make their way only through citation cascades. A quantitative analysis reveals how and why they happen. Science appears to behave like a self-organized critical system, in which citation cascades of all sizes occur, from continuous scientific progress all the way up to scientific revolutions, which change the way we see our world. Measuring the "boosting effect" of landmark papers, our analysis reveals how new ideas and new players can make their way and finally triumph in a world dominated by established paradigms. The underlying "boost factor" is also useful to discover scientific breakthroughs and talents much earlier than through classical citation analysis, which by now has become a widespread method to measure scientific excellence, influencing scientific careers and the distribution of research funds. Our findings reveal patterns of collective social behavior, which are also interesting from an attention economics perspective. Understanding the origin of scientific authority may therefore ultimately help to explain how social influence comes about and why the value of goods depends so strongly on the attention they attract.</div> <div> </div> <div>Mazloumian A, Eom Y-H, Helbing D, Lozano S, Fortunato S (2011) How Citation Boosts Promote Scientific Paradigm Shifts and Nobel Prizes. PLoS ONE 6(5): e18975. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018975 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0018975">Read Free Full Text</a></div> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717132874570662108.post-75603664049631998002011-04-23T21:21:00.001+05:302011-04-23T21:21:27.651+05:30Latent TB of Indians worries UK: some issues to ponder<font style="font-family: georgia,serif;" size="2"></font><font size="2"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Diagnosis and treatment of latent tuberculosis are both difficult and uneconomical.</span></font><font size="2"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> The Monteux test based on skin reaction to mycobacterial protein components is seriously cross-reactive and could produce false positive and false negative results in case of 70% of the Indians. Similar difficulties could be encountered with Interferon – gamma test. The reasons for this diagnostic failure vis-à-vis latent TB could be due to many immunological confounders such as the past vaccination (with BCG) and exposure to environmental mycobacteria (there are 300 different saprophytic mycobacterial species which impact our immune system exposure). Moreover, other chronic pathogens such as Helicobacter pylori which inflict nearly 80% of all Indians in its benign form could also interfere with immunological testing for latent tuberculosis due to their bystander effects.</span></font><font size="2"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br><br>It is in-correct ethically to impose prophylactic therapy upon individuals who have no clinical disease and who might never get it in their lifetime. <span> </span>Anti TB drugs are hepatotoxic<span> </span>in long course and low dosage or short course could select out drug resistant bacteria. In my opinion, treatment of millions of putative, latent TB cases will inflict the government exchequer enormously and only the pharma companies who are pushing for a few years for the treatment of latent TB as a standard regimen will only benefit from it.</span></font><font size="2"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> It will shift focus from the management of clinically ailing patients which in itself is a mammoth task for a high burden country like India</span></font><font size="2"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br><br>As far as the India centric Lancet article on latent TB detection in prospective immigrants in the UK is concerned, it is merely sensationalization of the issue.<span> </span>Now a days, in the infection epidemiology arena, it has become a fashion in the West to project India as a source of infection.<span> </span>There could be some truth in the scenario given our high infection burden, however, the story is worst in case of countries of the world that are dubiously known for their highly virulent MDR and XDR<span> </span>strains such as South Africa, Russia and the countries of the former USSR. In fact UK should happily give immigrant status to Indians because it is proved already that the Indian strains of Mycobacteria are of ancestral type (genotype TbD1+) and the treatment success rates of up to 95% have been recorded under the DOTS program in India.<span> </span>These strains are theorized as 'shy' in terms of dissemination as compared to some of the very aggressive genotypes such as Beijing, Africa and Haarlem. India has so far not experienced any institutionalized outbreak as against the famous fatal outbreaks of New York and Kwazulu Natal. That means the Indian strains are less aggressive and controllable. <span> </span>Indians enjoy a distinct natural protection from latent TB due to the facts that their genetic makeup is different, their strains are different and their immune system is already primed due to a saprophytic antigenic background and/or by Helicobacter infection. UK should therefore not be worried for Indians. They should in fact be worried about the Pakistanis and Sri Lankans who do not have the ancestral strains of TB bacteria<span> </span>(TbD1+) in their countries and could proceed to full blown TB more rapidly than Indians. It will be interesting if the Health Protection Agency of the UK comes up with clear statistics on how many Indians, Pakistanis, and Sri Lankans have progressed to full blown TB per year after their arrival in UK and how many of them were infected with which type of strain and whether or not they were diabetics or living with HIV/AIDS</span></font>.<br><br>There is however, one important angle to the conversion of Indians from latent to open TB cases while in the UK – it is Vitamin D, an important determinant of resistance or susceptibility to TB and which is synthesized naturally by the body when exposed to sunlight. Due to poor sunlight in UK, it is possible that deficiency of Vitamin D might build up especially in cases of vegetarian people who may not be able to maintain their dietary intake of vitamin D. UK Immigrant authorities should therefore, pay more attention to the food and lifestyle of these immigrants so that they keep their immune system stepped –up as they do back home in India. <font size="2"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></font><font style="font-family: georgia,serif;" size="2"> </font> <div style="visibility: hidden; left: -5000px; position: absolute; z-index: 9999; padding: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow: hidden; word-wrap: break-word; color: black; text-align: left; line-height: 130%; font-family: georgia,serif;" id="avg_ls_inline_popup"> </div> Niyaz Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10183551019079072124noreply@blogger.com2